


I'm Glad You Did That

by kayshiaginger



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Because of Reasons, Creepypasta, Cross-Posted on Quotev, Eventual Smut, F/M, Multi, Possible violence, Romance, Slow Burn, Thriller, creepypasta love story, creepypasta romance, eventually, first person POV, from first person to third person, i mean they are creepypastas, insert more tags here, nsfw scenes, occasional pov shift, slow build I guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2020-12-24 23:20:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21107636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayshiaginger/pseuds/kayshiaginger
Summary: My best friend had just moved, and I was devastated. But he left me a parting gift: the old Nintendo 64 that we used to play when we were kids. Some freaky shit starts happening, and suddenly there's a guy named Ben standing in my living room. After all I had been through because of him, I was pretty terrified. But after a while now, I think I'm falling in love with him?





	1. Chapter 1

_"Charlotte," he started. I could see from the way he was twiddling his thumbs that something was tugging at his mind. I tilted my head to the side out of curiosity, acknowledging that I was listening. He heaved a sigh and continued when I didn't speak. _

_"I know you aren't gonna like this, but... I'm moving..." he said with such a pained voice. I was silent, those last two words ringing in my ears. They were just hanging there, laughing at me and torturing me. I blinked once. And again, silent. He gazed down at his hands and did not look back up at me. I couldn't believe it! My best friend was moving! I wanted to express my mix of emotions, but there were far too many swirling in my head and flooding my heart. Instead, I kept myself calm despite how defeated I felt._  
  
_Joshua has been my closest friend for ages, ever since our preschool days. Sure, everyone expected us to be closer than best friends by the time we hit our teenage years, but now, at eighteen years old, we've never given much thought as to what it would be like if we were together as a couple. Having seen each other more as siblings, we agreed it would definitely be way too awkward for us. Anyway, let me get back on track here._  
  
_ "I know you're feeling extremely confused, and upset, and betrayed," he said softly, "but my father's just gotten a job in L.A. You know he can't pass up the offer, since my mother's been... well... you know..." he trailed off, his saddened look only saddening further as he spoke. His mother had been diagnosed with leukemia, and she was hospitalized when he was fifteen. Before then, she was the main breadwinner of the house, so ever since her diagnosis he and his father both had to work together to make ends meet, as well as keeping up with hospital bills for his mother._

_"We're leaving in a week."_

_"I can't believe you're moving! You're the only best friend I have," I accidentally shouted at him. I'd never shouted at him out of frustration like this before._  
_"No I'm not. There's Lauryn too, remember?"_  
_ "Well yeah, but she wasn't my best friend for the past fifteen years." I replied softly. I hung my head to hide the forming tears, my thick dark hair draping down like a curtain in front of my face._  
_ "I'm sorry..." his voice echoed in my mind._  
  
I awoke in a cold sweat. That was a week ago. And every night since then I've been haunted by that same memory of practically losing my closest friend. It shouldn't have bothered me so much, but he and I had been partners in crime through thick and thin. We had been there for each other in our darkest times: dealing with each of our first breakups, helping him cope with his mom's deteriorating health, he even allowed me to stay over at his house whenever my parents would begin one of their huge fights about everything and nothing.

I rolled over in my bed to face the other side of my room. After a few poor attempts at reaching for my phone, I felt the cool metal between my fingers as I picked it up to check the newest notifications. Reconfirming my fears, today was in fact Saturday. The big day. My best friend and second family would be moving what felt like half a world away; of course, they'd only be moving a couple states away. I lazily flipped through my different social media accounts and sighed as I locked my phone. I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Across from where I was sitting was a window, that conveniently overlooked onto Josh's soon-to-be-previous home. In the bottom right corner of the window, between the edge of the frame and the curtains, I could see his driveway; the truck they were packing their belongings into was looking almost dangerously full. I stood up and changed out of my pajamas: a well-loved tank top and some shorts, and into a plain short sleeved T-shirt and some shorts that were slightly longer than the ones I wore for sleeping in. Phone in hand, I quick-stepped down the stairs and lightly jogged out the door.

The moving truck had just pulled out onto the street as I was walking into their yard. There were still a few boxes and bags in a pile on the front patio, the last few belongings that would be put into his father's car. As I approached Joshua, he presented me with a box and smiled as greeting. It was all that was needed. I tipped the box lightly so I could see into it, and saw his old N64 console that we played when we were younger. Along with it were the controllers and all the cartridges that he owned. We played a lot of games on his old N64, especially Super Smash Brothers. I always beat him. I chuckled to myself at the nostalgia as he lightly place the box into my hands. I looked up at him with a confused look.  
  
"I want you to have it," he told me. "It's the least I can do to give you it. Sure we'll still be texting and having our video calls and all, but I wanted you to have an actual physical piece to keep with you." My jaw dropped as I immediately plopped down onto the pavement and began to dig through the different game cartridges. Conker's Bad Fur Day, Super Smash Bros., all of them. All of the games we took turns playing when they were only single player, and all the ones that we challenged each other on when multiplayer was available. There was one I hadn't seen in his pile before, though. I picked it up to inspect the worn-down label that had been written over. Majora's Mask. I heard that was a Legend of Zelda game, but neither of us ever owned it, and therefore never got to play it. Nonetheless, I smiled.  
  
I liked Legend of Zelda.  
  
"Joshua! Come on, we've gotta get moving," his father called. Josh sighed. I stood up, and gave him one last hug good-bye.  
"I'm gonna miss you Josh," I whispered softly. He hugged me back.  
"I know...I'll miss you too...but we'll always be best friends! No matter the distance," he promised. I even made him pinky swear, because everyone knows that a pinky swear is the ultimate form of trust when it came to promises.  
"Joshua!" His father called again, a little more strict. Josh waved to me, then got in the car. The last I saw of him was his mess of light brown hair as he climbed into the back seat of the car, amidst all the other boxes and bags. I waved goodbye to him and his parents.  
  
The engine started, and they backed out of the driveway of the now empty home. A tear slowly crawled its way down my cheek and softly fell to the pavement. With a heavy, sob-like sigh, I picked up the box at my feet and walked across the yards to my home.


	2. Chapter 2

My home felt unfamiliar without Josh around, considering he would've been over to hang out for a while around this time of day. It practically felt like I was living alone now. Since my father left us a few years back and my mother was barely around because of so much work, Josh and his family were my only company, and quite frankly I preferred that over the years. I looked up at the pale green walls of my living room, then up at the pristine white ceiling. My gaze returned to my task at hand, and I began by setting the box down on the floor by the TV stand. Silence was my company as I pulled the contents out of the box and set up my "brand new" gaming system. It had been a few years since either of us had really touched it, given we had each moved on to playing some of the newer arrivals in console gaming. I was surprised the old Nintendo 64 was still working, and pretty well at that.

  
I began by playing our old favorite, Super Smash Brothers. It was all right at first, but it only seemed like it was the most fun when we played it _together_. And it was hard to play the game together considering the current state of affairs. Therefore I gradually achieved a state of boredom instead of a state of accomplishment after winning for the seventh time against these computerized opponents. I restarted the system and removed Smash Brothers in the process, replacing it with another favorite from the pile. Conker's Bad Fur Day. Ever since we had watched our then favorite youtuber, PewDiePie, play Conker's Bad Fur Day, we knew we just _had_ to get it for his N64.

It didn't start properly at first, prompting me to furrow my brow as I removed the cartridge and blew on it. Satisfied, I clicked it back into place and started up the console once more. I opened up a new save file, since the last one was completed. The game played through the introduction sequence, and I began playing the offensive game soon after. I had forgotten just how crude it could get, and was quite surprised that either of our parents allowed us to play it a few years ago. I had gotten about an hour or so into the game when I realized I was rather bored once again. I saved my gameplay, then popped Conker out of the console. 

I didn't really feel like playing any of the other ones. None of their bright colors, fun names or nostalgic thoughts appealed to me. I was just about to put all the cartridges back into the box when I saw Majora's Mask sitting at the bottom of the pile, where I left it. I picked it up, wondering where Josh had gotten it. The original label appeared mostly scraped off and extremely worn down, and the title itself was scrawled onto the cartridge in black sharpie. It definitely seemed like a bootleg copy, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt and thought of it as a well-loved cartridge that probably ended up in the cheap bin at a garage sale.

_Fuck it_, I thought. _I never really got to play it in the time that it's been out, why not try it now?_

I clicked the game into place and restarted the console up once more. At the load screen was another file already in place. Someone had put their name in all caps, probably a younger kid or even a superfan of Legend of Zelda. Their name was logged as ''BEN'. From what I could see on the main screen, 'BEN' was really far into the game. He was on the last day, and nearly had all the masks. Out of respect, I left the other file alone and made a new save file for myself, titling it 'Char' for my nickname; I proceeded to start the game. The start was okay, nothing was too difficult to understand. What annoyed me most during my gameplay was that it had a bug: sometimes it would call me 'Char', and other times it would call me 'BEN'. I did a quick save and exited from my session, having decided to delete BEN's file, despite my previously silent vows not to delete their file for 'respectful' reasons.

I clicked the erase button, but it wouldn't comply. Instead, the text box popped up, blank for a few seconds. Then, text scrawled across the box. 

"_You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?_" I blinked.

_What the fuck? _I thought. With a frown, I pressed the button again to try and erase the data. This time, a face popped up on the screen, the face of the Link statue. Only, the eyes were... black... and with red pupils. His unsettlingly wide grin grew wider and far creepier than I thought possible. The once-happy music was completely distorted now, only making the unfolding scene worse. I shuddered as a chill swiftly crawled down my spine and hastily pulled the cartridge out of the system.

The face was still on the screen. It was zoomed in a little closer this time. The distorted music stopped altogether. Another text box appeared, blank for a few seconds before an extremely glitched message appeared. The message corrected itself after a brief moment.  
  
_"You shouldn't have done that..." _it stated. My heart was racing as I quickly yanked the cord that connected the console to the television set. The screen instantly cut to black as soon as the connection was lost. I placed my hand on my chest, worried that my heartbeat was so fast that it could give out at any moment. 

"What the _fuck _just happened?" I questioned the silence.


	3. Chapter 3

I didn't touch that game console for the rest of the day. Hell, I didn't even go near the family room for the rest of the day. I locked myself in my room and decided I wouldn't come out unless I was in need of the bathroom or a snack from the kitchen. I further decided to get on my laptop, since scrolling through social media feeds on my phone wasn't as entertaining for me. I messed around for a bit: catching up on missed videos, reading a couple chapters from friends' stories, even checking through social media again. Not much was new in that last department, but I was once again just aimlessly scrolling through. Suddenly my cursor was exploring the screen itself. I lifted my hands to show no one in particular that it wasn't me moving it. I watched the cursor travel up the browser to open a new tab. Once opened, the cursor clicked on the URL bar and letters were typing themselves. I heard no sounds and saw no movements of the keys, but the website, Cleverbot, was now on my screen.

_God, I haven't used this, or even heard of anyone using this, in a long time, _I thought, my brow furrowed in confusion. First the console and now my laptop? What on earth is happening? I hastily picked up my phone and decided to do a quick search about what happened to me with the video game a couple hours ago. Nothing came up instantly until a few links further down, a brief news article on a strange incident involving an old, worn-out copy of Majora's Mask. A shiver ran up my spine as I looked back up to my laptop screen and saw that Cleverbot had already engaged me in a conversation. 

  
"Why did you leave me?" It started, after having forced me to engage with a brief 'hello'.  
"Leave you...?" I typed in response.  
"I'm very lonely," scrawled across the screen.  
"...Who are you?"  
"I want to talk. Do you like video games?"  
"..."  
"Certainly you must like them, Char."  
"How do you know my name?"  
"I know lots of things." It was at this point that I tried closing the tab, but no matter how many times I clicked the little red 'x', I couldn't escape this creepy encounter. It was also at this point that the 'other person' didn't even need a response from me in order to continue. I was contemplating just pressing the power button when a new message popped up.  
"Don't leave me again, Char."  
"What do you want from me, you creep?"  
"I want someone to play with."  
"What are you?"  
"..."  
  
That's the last I saw before the tab closed automatically. My limbs were shaky, all hairs on my body standing on end. I felt like crying. Screaming. But I did neither, and did my best to keep my composure. I've never felt more terrified in my life; this was scaring me more than any actual physical trauma I have suffered in the past. I guess this was just severely intimidating because it was such a strange and discomforting encounter, in which I had no idea what was going to happen.

I'm dreaming. Yeah, that's it. The only problem is that I feel like I'm wide awake. I continued on wearily with binge-watching videos and TV series. I hadn't noticed at first, but that tab from before opened up in the background. When I finally noticed it, I had tried to close it but it froze. As if it had a mind of its own, the cursor made its way and deleted my primary tab. _What the fuck?!_ I thought as I jumped back from my computer a bit. The chat started again, picking up from where it left off last.  
  
"Why don't you wanna play with me, Charlotte?"  
"Why the fuck should I? You don't exist. You're a figment of my imagination and this is all just a dream."  
"Is that so?"  
"Entirely. I probably started taking drugs hours ago and all of this is a hallucination," I responded. I doubted it entirely, shuddering at previous events in my life that had involved drugs. That was another big problem that Josh and his family helped me survive. His parents were more caring about my mental health than my own, especially considering my own were the reason I started abusing those illegal substances.

They took a few moments for a response, the little ellipsis cycling briefly until a new message popped up.  
"I can assure you that I'm no hallucination", they finally had written.  
  
It ended once more. I began contemplating moving out. Fleeing the country. Changing my name. But... I really can't. Not as a poor young adult, practically living on my own. Instead I just powered off my laptop and set it to the side. I flopped back on my bed with a huff and rubbed my temples.

"Just what the _fuck _is going on?" I asked the emptiness of my room. I could always text Joshua, but at this point he and his dad had probably traded off driving positions. A few hours had passed after all, and his dad did tire of driving easily. As I was thinking about my situation and whether or not to contact Josh, a text from an unmarked number delivered.  
  
"Come on, Charlotte! Don't ignore me now :(" the message read. How the fuck did it get my number?! I didn't answer, and immediately blocked it. A new message on a new number came in moments later.

"You can't ignore me no matter how hard you try." I frowned at the message and didn't respond.

_I swear to God if I somehow summoned a fucking demon... _My thoughts were abruptly stopped by another message coming in.

"I'm sorry if I'm scaring you. My name is Ben. I'm in a bit of a situation."  
"What do you mean you're 'in a situation'?"  
"It uh, it has something to do with that game you were playing earlier."


	4. Chapter 4

What did me playing video games have to do with this? Which game is he even referring to? I played most of them out of the pile. However, if I had to guess, this probably has something to do with the Legend of Zelda game I played; it _was_ causing me the most stress today anyhow.

"So what do you want me to do about it?" I text back.  
"Well, for starters, you could maybe turn it back on?" Ben asked. My thumbs hovered over my keyboard, not sure how to answer. Why would it help his situation for me to turn on this fucking game? Whatever, I guess, if this will get this nightmare over with sooner then I'll do it.

I opened my bedroom door and made my way down the hall, then down the steps. I entered the family room and approached the television, which was as I left it earlier. Cautiously making my way over to the system, I plugged the cord back in and placed the cartridge back into its place, then turned the N64 on. The menu screen flashed normally, but I still felt an extreme unease. I tapped 'load game' and took a peek at the save files, then pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"Okay, now what?" I sent, which received an immediate response.  
"Open the file labeled with my name. Please."  
_Well, at least he asked nicely, _I thought sarcastically. Hesitant, I pressed the button to open his save file. It began to load up before the TV flickered and shut off. Then it flashed on again, almost as if it had just been like a power outage, except, you know, only the television was affected... However, the screen was far brighter than usual. A blinding white light was illuminating the dimly-lit room.

It began flashing multiple colors now. White, to green, to red, to blue. They began swirling and flowing into each other. Soon, a figure began to materialize. I could barely make out their outline at first, but they were vaguely shaped like the statue that had scared the crap out of me earlier on. The statue began to bend and move, contorting itself until its movements were more human than not. It was... getting closer to the screen? The swirling colors began acting as a portal right before my very eyes. The figure was reaching out to the screen, their fingertips had already begun fazing through the screen. Following up was the rest of their hand and the arm that it was attached to. I was frozen in place; I have no idea what the hell is happening. I'm terrified.

More and more of the stranger was coming out of the screen until their face popped out, showing to me that they were a guy about my age. His wildly unkempt hair was tufted below a cap like that of Link's in Zelda.

This feels like a scene straight from a horror movie. Am I sure I didn't take drugs? Or that I was having a nightmare? A very, very vivid and realistic nightmare?

I backed away from the TV as the figure began to emerge more and more. He flopped down onto the floor as his body was halfway out of the screen. He crawled and pulled himself the rest of the way through, and the moment the last of his body was out, the screen turned black again. He lay on the floor for a moment, then began to rise until he towered over me. I wasn't very tall, standing at maybe five foot five. To be fair, he wasn't all that much taller than me, perhaps standing at five foot nine or so? This guy brushed his hair out of his eyes, and oh my god his face was terrifying. He had a crooked, twisted smile plastered on his face, too inhuman to be real. I'm talking worse than the Joker, here. His eyes were black, with blood-red irises and pupils. I blinked, taken aback, not sure how to process what was happening, what I was looking at. There wasn't much to worry about though, as his features began to normalize to something more humanlike. His black eyes turned white, but his irises were still the blood-red color, as if he had contacts in. His creepy grin twisted and contorted into a smaller, rather handsome smile. And did I notice dimples on him as he smiled at me?

  
"Are you... are you the dude who's been bothering me?" I asked him cautiously, not really sure what to expect from anything anymore.  
"That'd be me. Benjamin's the name, you can call me Ben. Consider this a more formal greeting, eh?" He said smoothly. I don't know what I thought he'd sound like, or if he'd even know how to properly form sentences in a verbal manner, but he sounded pretty smooth to me at least. He stuck his hand out as an offering of peace. It blinked briefly as though it were a glitch, flashing from a gnarly-looking hand to a clean and unharmed version of it. Hesitance swept over me, but I reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle shake.

"I can't thank you enough for releasing me from there," he stated. "You're Charlotte then, I'm guessing?"

I nodded. I didn't know what to say, how to act, what to do. Have I suddenly lost my speech ability, what the hell?

"You're awfully quiet for someone who talks a lot online," Ben said, surprised by my silence.  
"How would you react if someone came tumbling out of your TV screen?" I retorted, a little harsher than I intended.  
"Hey, I wasn't meaning to be rude," he said, palms up to show no offense. An awkward pause. I stood there in front of him, rubbing my arm nervously. He stood in front of me, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

"So what were you doing in there, anyway?" I asked rather bluntly.  
"Would you believe me if I told you a freakishly tall, faceless man put me in there as punishment?"  
"I.. I'm sorry, _what?"_  
"Didn't think so. But that's pretty much it. I didn't have much choice in the matter, as you could see," he said with a roll of his eyes.

None of this sounded plausible. Wait, how did Josh not have to deal with this mess? Did he never play the game?

"Have you ever met my friend Joshua? Has he ever touched the game?" I would assume he did not; he would've told me otherwise. Ben rubbed his chin and pondered my questions. Then he shook his head.

"That name doesn't ring a bell. I've never seen it in the save files," he said. I guess that was a relief, but that then raised the question of what the _hell _happened to that kid I had read the article on.  
"And what about that kid? I read some vague article related to a game cartridge extremely similar to the one I have. Matt I think his name was? Like college kid or something?" I watched as a small, sheepish grin spread across his face.  
"That uh, that kid I might have driven to insanity. Or... something..." he trailed off. What the fuck? I mean I understand, I feel the same way after less than half a day, but from what I'd read earlier that kid was putting up with it for a few weeks. Nobody believed him and he essentially went missing. To be fair, I didn't want to know any more. I was severely uncomfortable with this guy and I think he noticed.

"Listen, that was years ago when I was still young and easily bored. I'm nineteen now. I really have no intention of hurting anyone. At least not without reason. And if anything, I wouldn't dare hurt you, especially since you saved me from that Hell," he explained. For some reason, I felt inclined to trust him. Ironic, I know. He's some strange, demonic creature that I have only just technically met a few moments ago, and I'm putting a lot of trust in him not to murder me.

So basically, modern day internet.

Regardless, I felt pretty reassured. I relaxed my shoulders and heaved a sigh, allowing some relief to wash over me. Plus, it was kinda nice to know that he was close to my age and not some fifty-something-year-old that had died at a young age and was only taking on the form of himself at the time of death. Yeah. Real comforting.


	5. Chapter 5

I was preparing to ask another question when I heard the front door being jostled. Shit, my mom was home already? I quickly glanced at the clock. How had I not noticed how late it was? Ben noticed the door, too. I had to move him, hide him.

_Oh hi, mom! Why yes this strange man in the weird elf outfit is indeed standing in the middle of our living room, he just came out of the TV! _I thought to myself sarcastically. I knew she'd be tired from a long day of work, so it wasn't like I couldn't pass it off as her just being sleep-deprived. I didn't want to take any risks, though. Without a moment to lose, I grabbed Ben's wrist rather abruptly and yanked him out of the family room, upstairs to my room.

"What the hell are you doing?!"  
_"Shhhh! _My mom is home, you can't risk being seen without explanation, especially this late at night!" I hissed. I ushered him into my bedroom and told him to make himself useful and hide somewhere for the time being. Fortunately he complied, and I closed my door. I tried my best to casually make my way downstairs and slithered into the kitchen right as my mom finally had gotten the door open. Poking my head out, I smile a little nervously, but she doesn't notice.

"Hey, mom!" I say cheerily.  
"Hi, Char-bear," she replied. I could just tell by the tone of her voice that she was awfully groggy.  
"How was work?" I didn't have to ask. Her answer was always the same.  
"Exhausting, but I manage."

That was the end of the conversation. She dropped her bag by the door and left it there for the morning, then trudged into the kitchen to grab a small snack and a glass of water. Mom gave me a small, weak smile and a kiss on the forehead before heading upstairs to her room. I knew better than to bother her when she went there. We respected each other's boundaries. With a sigh of relief and a small snack of my own, I returned quietly to my own room. When I got there, however, I found Ben rummaging through my things.

"What the hell are you doing?" I ask, catching him by surprise. He looks at the bra in his hand and quickly drops it back into the drawer.  
"I uh... I was just... um," he stammered. His cheeks turned a light shade of pink and I eyed him as he sheepishly slinked away from my closet. I folded my arms across my chest. Typical of a teenage boy, really. Honestly I wasn't in any mood to be frustrated because at this point I was much too tired myself.

"Turn around," I said.  
"Huh?"  
"I need to change? So I can sleep? So turn around," I explained.  
"O-Oh, yeah... sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his neck and spinning on his heel to face the other side of the room. I rolled my eyes and quickly changed into pajamas: a tanktop and shorts. As I thought about it, I came to the conclusion that I couldn't really kick him out of the house. It'd look too suspicious, of course, but also where would he go?

I glanced over at him. He was rocking on his feet and staring up at the ceiling, being quite respectful of my boundaries right now, actually. I let another minute or two pass just to mull over the current situation before I told him that he was free to turn back around.

"So I guess I can't really let you like, wander out of my house?" I started, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. "Mostly because there's not really anywhere else I can think of that you could go, especially at this time of night."

"Soooo, what you're saying is, I can stay here for tonight?" He asked with a tilt of his chin. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, then nodded. Explaining to him that my mom leaves early and there's no other provable trace of him, we came to the agreement that if he stayed in my room, we would be free from questioning. I'll admit though, it's gonna feel super weird having a guy sleep in my room. That wasn't Josh of course. He's come over countless times to comfort me in the night when I awoke from a bad dream, or if I were up until three in the morning overthinking things.

Since I was more than uncomfortable with just allowing him to sleep in my bed, I fished around in my closet for an extra blanket, and took a pillow off my bed, sprawling both out on the floor for him to sleep with. He looked at me, at the makeshift bed, then at my own bed. With a shrug, he dropped down to the floor and curled up on top of the blanket.

_Glad that's settled,_ I thought as I climbed into my own bed. I grabbed one of my many stuffed animals littered across the mattress: my favorite, a stuffed giraffe that I received as a present from Josh and his family a few years ago. Its fur was matted from how much I held it. It was the most adorable thing, a short-necked creature with droopy, sleepy eyes and a sweet smile. I forgot entirely how embarrassing it could be to be eighteen years old and still sleep with a stuffed animal, and Ben made me remember that fact as I heard him chuckling.

"What's so funny?" I asked, red faced and trying to hide my stuffed friend away.  
"Nothing, nothing! I just think it's cute you still sleep with teddy bears and such. I think I stopped sleeping with my own when I was, what? Maybe nine or ten? Gosh, it's been so long since I was alive," he sighed. What?  
"What do you mean 'since you were alive'?" I asked. My confusion was more apparent than I thought.

He went silent for a moment. As if answering my question was bringing up a painful memory. I watched him relax as he propped himself up on his elbows and began to speak.

"I... died," he began, "when I was about ten. I drowned. Nobody was paying attention and when they finally noticed the events unfolding... it was too late."  
"I'm so sorry, Ben... that must have been awful. I'm sorry for sounding disrespectful, but if you're not technically alive then how are you here now?"  
"Call it luck but a few months later I found myself roaming the Earth. My spirit, I guess, found its way to a group of people who basically 'brought me back'. Sorta like the undead, I guess? But I have control over my actions and thoughts and everything else a normal human would. I'm just... not a normal human anymore. Superhuman I guess?" He lay back down and folded his hands over his chest. "And I don't look all that gross like you would if you were dead. Well, I can, but I really don't prefer looking that way. That dude I mentioned earlier? The freakishly tall faceless one? He and a bunch of other... 'people'... were the ones who basically saved what was left of me."

It was quiet for a moment. I was trying to process everything he told me. Honestly I still feel like I'm sleep deprived and that if I wake up in the morning he won't be here, but for the time being I was just concerned that if he's here after appearing out of my damn TV, then chances are that he's basically an undead immortal now.

I'll let myself decide that in the morning.


	6. Chapter 6

Bird chirps were the first thing I heard when I awoke the next morning. I blinked my eyes open and stretched my limbs, sprawling my body across the bed. Snuggled in my sheets, I felt warm. Comfortable. Safe. Everything felt so calm and serene. I looked up to my window, the light trying to pour in past the sheer curtains.

Then I began to remember yesterday.

Joshua and his family were probably halfway to Los Angeles by now. It felt weird knowing I wouldn't be able to peer out my window across the way to his house and see him waving at me. I sat up in my bed and looked out the window, over into his former, now empty bedroom. I sighed. And remembered something more.

What a crazy dream last night. It's amazing what the human mind can conjure up during sleep, and how much we can remember of it the next day. I, for example, had a very vivid dream about some video game that Josh had given me, and how it was a really broken copy that broke the fourth wall frequently, glitched out so often, and I _swear _I even had some guy crawl out of the screen like that grudge girl movie. I looked down to the bedspread I laid out on the floor last night. Nobody was there. I felt a relief wash over me, a weight lift off my shoulders. It _was_ just a dream!

I hopped out of bed with a lion's yawn. A smell wafted to my nose. It smelled like... someone was cooking breakfast. I could make out the distinct smell of scrambled eggs, and... oh god, someone was burning bacon. Did mom take the day off today?

Exiting my room, I made my way downstairs and to the kitchen. Except my mom wasn't stood at the stove trying to fan smoke out of the way. A man taller than me, clad in an outfit similar to Link from the Legend of Zelda (minus the cap right now) was stood there. My previous thoughts from before shattered as I realized I wasn't dreaming. Last night really happened. He glanced over as soon as he realized he wasn't alone in the kitchen and smiled almost apologetically.

"Sorry for kinda helping myself. You looked really peaceful in your sleep and I didn't wanna bother you," he said, still trying to fan smoke.  
"Wh-... So last night, I didn't dream you coming through the TV?"  
"Were you expecting someone else to?" He laughed. I rubbed my temples fiercely.

Jesus, okay. Okay, it's fine. Everything's fine.

Except everything's not fine and there's still this strange guy standing in my house and I still don't fully understand the process of how he got here, not to mention why does he look so good struggling to make breakfast?

Against my will, my stomach growled. Not that something like that would really go with my will anyway, but I was hungry nonetheless and what he was attempting to make did smell good. I sat down at the table and soon after he set a plate in front of me. Honestly? It looked delicious. Even though the bacon was much crispier than I would have liked, it looked amazing. I was still unsure, though.

"My parents taught me a little bit when I was younger, I was super into helping make breakfast every Saturday morning. I'm a little out of practice..." he said, referring to the bacon with that last part. "I promise I didn't poison it."

Still hesitant, I picked up my fork and stabbed a bit of scrambled egg, then took a bite. Wow. This tastes as great as it looks! Hungrily, I wolfed it all down. I hadn't properly had anyone cook in this house in a while. Mostly I'd just go over to Josh's for breakfast or even brunch if it was later in the morning. When I looked at Ben, he seemed to be beaming with pride. I smiled at him meekly as he sat beside me and ate his own.

"Thank you, you're a much better cook than I could've expected," I said. He flashed me a smile and finished up his plate. I rose from the table and collected our dishes, setting them in the dishwasher.  
"Even after I died, I was trying to cook. When I was 'brought back' I mean," he stated. "Shoot, now that I think about it I should probably get back home..."  
"Home? As in to your parents?"  
"No no, they've long since moved away from this area. As much as I'd love to see them again, I don't think they could take seeing me like this."  
"Ah... well where is your home then?"  
"You know the woods on the other side of town?" He asked carefully.  
"Yeah, people are forbidden from going in there because there's been too many incidents involving them," I replied, not really understanding.  
"Ever wonder _why _those incidents happen?" He said with a bit of a smirk. I was a little uncomfortable now. I shook my head.  
"My undead family and I live deep in that forest. Beyond the stream that cuts through those woods, there's a huge mansion. It's hidden out of the way, the path to it is covered in dense foliage." He explains. I feel uneasy.

I've heard so many stories, rumors, cliches, about people entering that forest and never returning. At least not alive. A couple of people in my senior class have disappeared in there. Amber alerts had been sent out in hopes that maybe they made it to the other side of those expansive woods. One of them, however, a girl named Deirdre, was found just a few meters inside, her body mangled and disheveled in a position that looked like she was tossed back towards the entrance of the forest. And she was just one of many. Police only recognized her from the remnants of her clothing, which matched the description provided in the missing child poster.

"You should come with me."


	7. Chapter 7

Red flag. _Huge_ red flag. Strange dude I just met wants to take me into the woods. The woods where multiple unexplainable murders and disappearances have occurred. A place on the opposite end of town, about a ten minute drive from here but if I were in need of a quicker escape, running would take a while.

At the entrance of those woods were a few abandoned buildings. Mostly houses and an apartment complex. No one to immediately help if anything were to go wrong. And because of this, I declined.

"I'm sorry, but anyone and everyone in this town knows that to go near those woods is suicide," I said.  
"That's too bad," he replied. "I understand though. Maybe someday you'll agree." He flashed a cheeky smirk at me. I shifted my weight back and forth.

"Well, if you don't want to go with me, that's fine. I wouldn't dare force you to," he told me. Something about that was... comforting? And yet, really respectful. I wouldn't have expected that from anyone I knew at my high school. Then again, I grew up with them and knew them better than I know Ben.

"I'll probably go myself, but I know that looking like this," he gestured to his Link attire, "would get me a lot of unwanted attention if I walked through the streets to the forest. You maybe have an outfit I could borrow? I assume your friend Josh was close to you and would probably have something but I don't wanna assume too much."

I nodded and went up to my room. Josh didn't realize that he had left a sweatshirt or two here, but I knew he wouldn't mind. Hopefully he wouldn't mind me lending one to Ben. Of the two I had, I picked out the green one, fitting for him I guess. I scrounged around for a pair of jeans he could borrow as well, finding a pair of grey semi-skinny jeans. Reaching under my bed, I pulled out a pair of old vans sneakers that I'd pretty much worn out, at least for myself. I also found an old backpack that he could store his current clothing in and carry home with him. I didn't really have anything else to offer, so I hoped this was enough as I made my way back downstairs to rejoin him.

"I don't have much in terms of what could fit you, but hopefully this suffices?" I asked as I held out the clothing to him. He took everything from my hands and smiled at me with a slight nod, which told me it was perfect for him. I allowed him to return to my room to change, on the condition that he didn't go snooping through my things again. I watched him get embarrassed from that remark, but he retreated to my room nonetheless after I made him promise to just go up there only to change.

When he returned, he had everything on that I gave to him, his cap still remained on his head. 'I like it' is all he told me, and I wasn't gonna really argue. He _did _look pretty handsome. He slung the bag onto his back, full of his costume. I watched him as he ran his fingers through his fringe and shot me a grin.

"Well? How do I look?" He held his arms out and did a little spin. I laughed and rolled my eyes.  
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were a pretty average looking guy. Except the Link cap, of course," I answered. Now when I say average, I mean in the sense of someone who would be a casual to the town. Appearance-wise, damn did he look cute.

_Shut the fuck up, _I told myself. _Stop thinking this stranger is attractive or this is gonna end up like a super spooky, super cheesy Hallmark film. Thirsty bitch._

"You're too kind. I better get a move on then," he said. Ben headed to the door and stood in front of it, peering out the window beside it. He turned to look at me and grinned.

"I'll be sure to keep in touch with you," he started, "and if you should ever need me, whether it be a friend in need or not, all ya gotta do is open up cleverbot and put in my name."  
"And if I don't need you?" I asked curiously. He grinned again, a playful, cheeky grin that really showed off his dimples.  
"Call for me anyway," he said. He opened the door and walked out. I followed onto the porch just to keep an eye on him until I couldn't see him anymore. He turned to wave goodbye to me and turned a corner down the street, heading in the direction of the forest. I doubted I'd ever see him again, but there was something itching at the back of my mind telling me that this wasn't a one-time encounter.

* * *

Ben ambled casually throughout the streets of town. The streets were fairly busy for such a small town, probably do to the lunch hour. People driving, walking, biking to and from cafes, restaurants, fast-food joints, gas stations, work, wherever they needed to be. Sure, some of them stopped to glance at Ben and his seemingly out-of-place hat, but they had places to be, things to take care of. They had no time to worry about whether or not this man looked familiar to them. It didn't matter.

It just so happened that a few streets before hitting the forest, Ben's old family home existed. He sighed as a wave of grief flooded him, but he knew he couldn't dwell on it. He stopped and stood at the gated entrance to the home. A car was parked in the driveway.

_Glad to know this place is still lived in, _he thought positively. Sure he felt hurt that his parents moved away shortly after his death, but who could blame them? Why would anyone want to be in a place filled with too many memories of a lost loved one? They could certainly become unbearable after a while.

While it may be a lived-in house, it appeared not a whole lot of work was put into it over the years. The soft blue paint of the exterior was faded from the sun and peeling in some places. The fence was rotting on the far side, from what Ben could see. The grass was also fairly unkempt, as if nobody had mowed in the past few weeks. When his family was here, they always kept it in tip-top shape. His father was handy like that. He placed a hand gently on the fence post that attached to the gate and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. A moment passed, and he turned around to return back on his path. He could still feel the energy of his family within him.

Just as he was heading towards the end of the street just a few blocks down, towards the small section of abandoned homes, a middle-aged man watering his flowers stopped him.

"Hey kid! Whaddya think you're doin'? Don't you know that there forest is dangerous?" The man called out. Ben stood still in his tracks, not turning to face him.

He nodded and called back, "I'm well aware, sir."  
"Well then what're ya doin' walking that way?"

Ben looked to his left. Then to his right. Nobody else was around at the moment, just him and this old man. He twisted around at the hip to face him as his face began to contort. His eyes flashed briefly as his scleras turned from white to black. What looked like blood began oozing from his eyes as his grin contorted along with the rest of his face.

"I know fully well what I am doing. Do you?"

The man dropped his hose and screamed in fear as he ran as fast as he could back into his home. Ben's face returned to normal as he turned back around, and he chuckled to himself as he delve into the woods.


	8. Chapter 8

It'd probably not been more than a couple hours since Ben had left. I had the house to myself once more. It was far quieter than I had ever imagined it to be. Unsettlingly quiet. I guess I'm just not used to being completely isolated here? I needed noise, for the silence to go away. I needed to talk about everything that's happened in the past twenty-four hours. Josh I really hope you made it to your new place, or at least off driving duty. I picked up my phone and went to my contacts. Wait, how in the fuck would I explain that a literal glitch demon just came out of my TV?

My thumb hovered over the call button, lost deep in hesitation. As if on cue, my phone began to ring. He was calling me instead. Immediately, I swiped to accept the call.

"Howdy hey!" I said into the receiver.  
"Howdy ho!" Josh responded with a chuckle.  
"What's up Joshie?"  
"Just wanted to update and let you know that we're less than a few miles from the new house! How's day one without me been, Char-bear?" I don't know how to answer. Do I tell him it's been super eventful and risk sounding super crazy? Or do I keep this to myself? It's not like Josh would judge me and tell me I'm imagining things. I'll chance it.

"It's been a time. Actually it's been kinda... strange?" I say carefully.  
"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be that way for a while. Like I said, we'll still video call as much as we can!"  
"Well, I mean, _yeah_... but that's not what I mean when I say strange..."  
"Oh? What do you mean then?" I could hear his tone shift to one of concern.  
"Uh... well," I began, "this is gonna sound _super _crazy, but I think... I think one of the video games you gave me held a demon captive or something?"  
"I... Charlotte did you get into your mom's pills again? I told you those aren't gonna-"  
"Josh! I'm being serious. Plus, I learned my lesson from that..." I trailed off. It was silent for a moment.  
"All right, so tell me about this TV demon then?" He asked.  
"So I popped in one of the games, Majora's Mask, and I started playing it yesterday when-"  
"Wait, Majora's Mask? I never owned that one... or maybe I did? I don't remember having it though, I would've played it."  
"How would it have been in the pile if you never had it before?" I asked. That was rather odd.  
"That's super weird. And extremely concerning," he said. I agreed.

I explained to him everything that'd happened in the past twenty-four hours. About the game glitching a bunch and scaring the shit out of me. About my laptop and phone being "possessed" by a video entity to try and communicate with me. About how said entity crawled out of my television like a horror scene. How that said being was Ben, standing in my living room. I also told him how I kinda had no choice but to let him stay the night.

"Why would you let him do that?" Josh asked with an almost fatherly tone of voice.  
"I was not willing to appear suspicious that a stranger was just leaving my house in the middle of the night, dude."  
"Okaay, fair point. Does your mom know about this?"  
"No, she got home some time after he appeared and I rushed to hide him in my room. Honestly I could've passed off his existence as her being super tired since it was later in the night, but I didn't wanna risk it," I explained.  
"Good idea. Is he there now?"  
"No, he left a couple hours ago. He uh, he went to the forest," I said, getting quieter.  
"Wh- Is he crazy?!"  
"Well I mean, he did come out of my TV," I pointed out. "Anyway, apparently he lived on the other side of town I guess? I don't remember him ever going to school with us, but... he's... he's not really alive... I don't know how it worked out the way it did, but he's a literal demon."  
"Okay now I feel like _I'm _dreaming. I mean I have been driving a majority of the time, so it's possible... oh! We're just pulling up to the house! I'll call you later, Char-bear!" Josh exclaimed. I mustered up a happy tone.  
"Can't wait, Joshie!" We finished saying our goodbyes and hung up. I sighed and flopped myself down onto the couch, flinging my phone onto the cushion beside me. A few moments of me staring up to the ceiling in silence had passed before I received a text message.

"I'm sorry I couldn't talk more :(" read the text from Josh. I smiled meekly and chuckled.  
"It's fine you dork, get to work exploring your home!" I replied. He sent me another text with a small string of emojis of appreciation. I smiled again and set my phone down. I could always count on him to cheer me up, no matter how crazy the situation. But now I was alone again. And I didn't feel very comfortable staying home alone. Maybe I could see if Lauryn wants to hang out? I don't know...

Actually, I don't think she'd be able to. After we graduated, Lauryn immediately began going to college full-time and working at the grocery store part-time. I saw her there sometimes when I'd go to get groceries for the week and we'd chat for a bit, but it wasn't ever for very long because she kept very busy.

All I knew at this point was that I needed to get out of the house. However, I needed to change first. Returning to my room, I looked around for my usual attire: a darker teal coloured, hooded sweatshirt; grey leggings; and a pair of Vans sneakers. Since it was fall, it was a bit chilly out, which made me thankful for my thick and cozy hoodie. I stuffed my phone and my house key into my pocket and left my home for a walk.

I walked to a small park, not far from my home. It was a beautiful place. It was also rather peaceful, given much of the children who would usually be here playing on the playground are currently in school for the day. A small stream cut through part of it, which filters to the larger one that ends up cutting through the forest at the other end of town. I looked up to the sky, crystal clear save for a few staggering clouds. In the far off distance I could see the huge mountain range, though of course from here it was small because of the extreme distance.

_I ought to come to the park more often, _I thought.


	9. Chapter 9

A few days had passed since I had that strange encounter. I had already made it a routine for myself to take a walk to the park and sit by the stream for a while. Josh tried to talk to me whenever he could during the past few days – I didn't mind that the replies were few and far between, at least he was making a conscious effort to respond. It wasn't a big deal anyhow, given they practically packed up the entire house between the huge moving truck and their little station wagon, I was sure they were going to take a while to properly unpack and set up everything. Regardless, I never felt truly alone.

The walk to the park was easy. It was just a five minute walk, especially if I took the path at the end of my street instead of a longer way around. It was a little dirt path that extended under a bridge that lead out of town, with lots of shrubs scattered along it. Sometimes I'd encounter wildlife on my way there: a raccoon foraging for garbage thrown out over the side of the bridge, a squirrel or two chasing each other around among the few trees that clustered around the area. One time I'd even seen a mother duck and her ducklings waddling along the edge of the path. They got a little spooked whenever I passed by and hid in the bush next to them.

Sometimes I brought my bag with me, filled with my sketchbook and a few pencils. A few other things I had in there were a snack and water bottle if I needed nourishment, my earbuds so that I could listen to music if I ever tired of the gentle trickle of the stream, and of course my cell phone so I could keep track of time and have Joshua's company whenever he had the chance to respond.

Mostly though, I just came and lay by the stream to think. Sure, I could do that same thing at home in my bed, but honestly it was growing tiresome just being there by myself all the time. All alone. In a big, empty building. It was so peaceful here, actually being able to hear white noise instead of the silence of my home.

The water trickling along, the birds humming and singing in the air, a few small children not too far off who were shrieking and enjoying being out in the sun. It was all so comforting to be around. Whenever I brought my sketchpad, I'd draw the scenery around me, or characters that I imagine. I drew anything and everything that I thought of, often filling pages with numerous doodles and unfinished pieces.

Today, I drew him.

I don't know how I was able to remember every detail about him, but I captured him almost perfectly in my book. The way his messy, blond hair fell into his face. The wrinkles in his elven outfit. The subtle dimples in his cheeks when he smiled. I even captured the fact that one of his pointed ears was slightly longer than the other. I don't know why but I was just... suddenly infatuated with drawing him. I took up about three or four pages of my pad, front-to-back, with doodles of him. Headshots, full-body shots, certain parts of the body like his ears or his face or his arms. I drew a few of him with his twisted grin and bleeding eyes, too.

_Holy fuck, where did my mind go? _I asked myself as I realized how much I had drawn him. It was like I'd blacked out and just let my subconscious take over. I set down my pencil and closed my notebook, flopping backwards onto my back. I sighed and looked up to the sky, it was bright and shiny. Some clouds were rolling overhead, rolling over each other. Others looked like they were merely painted onto the sky as if it were a vast blue canvas. My phone buzzed on the ground beside me.

Joshua sent me a photo of his new room all put together. It was slightly larger than his previous one, so his furniture barely took up much space. It looked like a bright and happy space, too, because there were large windows that almost went from floor to ceiling and let in so much natural light. I responded to him with a surprised emoji and told him that it looked like an incredible space. He responded with a happy face and told me he'd try to video call me later this evening.

Taking a look at the time, I saw it was nearly three o'clock. As much as I'd like to stay here all day, I had to get home. I gathered up my belongings and packed them away, slung my bag onto my shoulder, and set off towards my home. Along the way through the path, I heard rustling in the shrubs to my right. I slowed down a little, becoming uneasy.

"Hello?" I called out. The leaves on the bushes continued to rustle, before quieting. Soon after, a buck shot through the foliage right in front of me. I screamed and jumped backwards, tripping over a root in the ground and falling on my butt. The deer continued on across the path into the brush on the opposite side of where it came from. I grabbed my chest as I heaved and stood up shakily.

_Jesus FUCK, _I thought as I tried to catch my breath. I dusted myself off and double-checked my body for scrapes. I was all right. With a huff, I carried on the rest of the way to my home.

Being home alone was not as fun as I could've imagined it to be. I know when I was younger I thought about how cool it'd be to be all by myself here, but now that I'm older I definitely want nothing to do with this. I hated that I could hear every sound the house was making, from the structure settling to the clocks ticking. Noises you wouldn't typically hear in a home. Of course, I could hear the whizz of cars as they passed by on the busy street not too far away, or the birds that sat in the treetops chirping away without a care in the world – but those were common, everyday sounds that didn't give off bad vibes. It didn't help that the houses in this town were relatively old to begin with.

My room was my solace. The bright blue walls with the clouds painted on was a comforting simulation of the clouds and sky I was just looking at only ten minutes ago, but the formations of the wall-clouds weren't as fun and exciting as the real ones. My feet padded softly across the hardwood floor and onto the soft, plush rug. I proceeded to flop onto my bed and open up my laptop.

I pulled out my cheap, old drawing tablet and began to bring some of my pencil sketches to digital. It was a little difficult since I had worn it out quite a bit over the years. After some time I grew bored and found myself focusing more on doodling Ben digitally. I sighed. Maybe... maybe he could keep me company?

I opened up my web browser. I was hesitant. Slowly I moved my cursor up to the address bar and began to type the address for cleverbot. Pressing enter, it loaded up and brought me to the page.

_Am I really about to contact him? _I asked myself. _This already feels like a distant memory..._

What would I even type? Cleverbot was full of super random encounters and responses from what I knew. I'm pretty sure it's really just a bunch of people communicating, and the conversations all overlap into one giant conversation of nonsense. My fingers hovered over my keyboard, waiting for the next command, but I didn't even know what to say.

_Wow, I'm REALLY gonna look to some stranger for company, _I thought. Then I remembered that's pretty much one of the major points of the entire internet, so I shrugged and thought "fuck it, why not".

"Hello?" I typed out.  
"What?" it responded. A little rude, but I'll let it slide.  
"Who is this?" I asked.  
"You should know it."  
"Ben?"  
"Who is Ben?"  
"Someone I want to speak to."  
"You know?" it asked.  
"I do," I said.

It was processing. Taking time to produce a response. A familiar, eerie sentence scrawled across.

_You shouldn't have done that. _

I frowned and furrowed my brow out of frustration. I hastily wrote out my next sentence and had to hit backspace a few times to correct some spelling errors.

"I want to talk to Ben, dammit," I said.  
"Well why didn't you say so?"  
"I thought it was clear."  
"It wasn't,"  
"So am I speaking to him or not?" I typed. I was getting annoyed. I almost didn't want to speak now.

"Hello, Charlotte."


End file.
